Breakfast Topic: Achievements and you

by Elizabeth Harper Nov 17th 2009 at 8:00AM

Ah, achievements, that funny little meta-game where everything's made up and the points don't matter. Why, oh why, do we flock to World of Warcraft's achievement system so? Of course, we all look forward to achievements with particularly lucrative rewards (or at least interesting titles), but many of the game's achievements, the only reward to look forward to is achievement points. And while you can certainly take some joy from watching those numbers build up, the points, essentially, don't matter. So what is it that keeps us hungering to complete even the silliest of achievements? Is it a passion for completism that prevents you from leaving these lists undone? Is it a need to prove yourself better or more dedicated than your fellow player? Is it the faint hope that some day Blizzard will reward your tedious labors with appropriately awesome swag? Is it the sense of accomplishment whenever an "achievement complete" alert pops up? Tell us -- what keeps you achieving?

Tags: achievement, achievement-points, achievements, game-discussion, gamer-discussion, world-of-warcraft-discussion, world-of-warcraft-hot-topics, world-of-warcraft-topics, wow-achievements, wow-discussion, wow-hot-topics, wow-issues, wow-topics

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Breakfast Topics, Achievements

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)

Abbadon Nov 17th 2009 8:05AM

anal retentiveness

Dan Nov 17th 2009 8:56AM

I lol'd

sankto Nov 17th 2009 9:31AM

you've made me spit my coffee, are you happy now?

sprout_daddy Nov 17th 2009 10:01AM

Amen, brother. I make and check off lists in real life and in WoW.

Kaylaura Nov 17th 2009 1:57PM

Totally true though!

Well, okay, some achievement names are also too fun not to get.

Skittles Nov 17th 2009 8:07AM

competitiveness

Boz Nov 17th 2009 12:32PM

Agreed; gear gets replaced, achievements are forever.

Camo Nov 17th 2009 3:58PM

It's all for this meta: http://db.mmo-champion.com/a/4496/

Hu Nov 17th 2009 8:07AM

In the long run, not much of everything else we do in wow matters either, it's all about the challenge, the competition and the fun.

Corey Nov 17th 2009 1:13PM

And I hate epeen envy.

Jaye Nov 17th 2009 8:08AM

Because I keep hoping that Blizz will eventually make the points WORTH something. Also, as a long time player, almost 5 years now, it's a way to keep track of my progress and have something....ANYTHING to show for my trouble. lol Sad and pathetic...but true.

Suite Nov 17th 2009 8:10AM

I love the achievement graphic, sound and pop up. Im a dork. :

peagle Nov 17th 2009 8:59AM

This! There's an old myth that Blizzard keeps an in-house team of psychologists on staff who vet the game content and implementation to ensure it constantly drip feeds players just enough accomplishment and accompanying audio visual stimulus to keep us hooked. And I'll be damned if that Achievements noise, lights and points doesn't provide an endorphin rush.

jabin19 Nov 17th 2009 10:25AM

I agree with the sounds, I had an aural and visual orgasm the other day in Warsong Gulch when I captured the flag, received the appropriate achievement and Leveled at the same time.... I had to get a paper towel.

Gimmlette Nov 17th 2009 12:04PM

^ This.

I got The Diplomat title last night when I got exalted with Timbermaw. And when I finished the last joust to get exalted with Exodar, which would make me exalted with Argent Crusade, my screen exploded with achievements because I was already exalted with Argent Dawn. Having Naxx on farm means, for some people, there's no reason to do it other than being altruistic to help a guild member. Pitching another achievement, "Which ones do you want to try for", gets people interested.

The best screen explosion was doing an OS run. As we had people with us who had never done this, we were going to take all three drakes down so they could get a feel for the fight. First dragon, the screen exploded with yellow light as 7 people got achievements for number of emblems or Stone Keeper shards. It was totally unintentional and hugely entertaining.

Yeah, that yellow light and the sign on the screen keep me looking through the list. I guess O'grila is next.

Dragonrose Nov 17th 2009 1:20PM

There's an incredible sence of achievement and most of all "recognition" when that thing pops up. Previously, would would achieve something, like Loremaster for the quest insane and not even know you had done it. I bet some people were surprised to get an achievement like that retroactively popup when the system was released.

As for me, I just enjoy the yellow around completed achievements, plus, for some reason, I feel the impulse to complete them. x)

Lunatick Nov 17th 2009 3:02PM

My guild finally finished Glory of the Ulduar Raider last night, and it was pretty much a borderline orgasmic experience for all of us. Lots of work went into that. It was pretty freaking sweet. Also, the 310 mount is nice, too.

I'm planning on banging out loremaster and seeker (I'm 750ish and 540ish away, respectively...all the quests are old world) in my free time in 3.3, once it's a little less annoying).

In vanilla and bc, it was all about the gear to show your ability/dedication, but it's achievemetns that are the status measure now. Pugs can clear 25 man T9 content (granted, on regular...pretty sure no pugs are doing ToGC 25), and the badge system lets nearly everyone get geared up, so gear isn't a good measuring stick of ability anymore.

Linzzification Nov 17th 2009 8:11AM

A feud with my bro-in law. A lasting battle to the death!

Marita Nov 17th 2009 8:13AM

pop up alerts.

honest.

Dameblanche Nov 17th 2009 8:13AM

Becoming loremaster on both horde and alliance side before cataclysm hits, so I will have at least done most of the old-school quests before they have gone completely.
The patch 3.3 quest interface left me feeling very disappointed because of this; I don't care for pointers on my map to find stuff I already know where to find: just give me a questlog that can contain more then 25 quests. 200 quests would be nice, thankyouverymuch; I'm getting fed up with my spreadsheet system of temporarily dropped quests.

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